NBA Finals Preview: 9 Things To Know Before Making Your Pick

News

The Heat and Spurs meet in Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight. It’s the first time these two teams have faced off for the title, but it’s still a rematch of sorts. The Spurs dealt LeBron James his first career Finals loss, back in 2007, and there’s no doubt that James is looking to exact a measure of revenge.

The problem is, he might not get it.

The Heat are the defending champs, and on paper are still the best team in the league. But after Indiana pushed Miami to seven games last round, it’s become clear that they are eminently beatable if their Big 3 plays like a big 1.75 or so. LeBron is All-World, but Dwyane Wade has been surprisingly inconsistent and Chris Bosh has been basically a ghost. Coupled with struggles from Ray Allen, Shane Battier, and Mike Miller, and it seems like the two most consistent Heat players at the moment are Bron and Chris ‘Birdman’ Anderson.

That’s not good against a Spurs team that has been resting since May 27 (!!!), and will now have a roster full of refreshed guys aiming at one last championship ring. This is a Spurs team that crushed the rugged Grizzlies and handled the small-ball, dead-eye shooting Warriors. Oh yeah, and about three months ago they swept the chock-full-of-stars Lakers with ease. San Antonio is pretty adept at beating any kind of team.

So with that in mind, what are the most important things to know about the 2013 NBA Finals?